In the healthcare industry it is often necessary to determine the efficacy of an antimicrobial treatment process. As used herein, “antimicrobial treatment process” includes, but is not limited to, hand and machine washing, sterilization, disinfection, decontamination, inactivation, and sanitization processes. The effectiveness of such processes is typically verified by use of a biological indicator, a chemical indicator, or both. An indicator is typically comprised of (1) an active agent, such as a biological specimen (e.g., an enzyme from a biological source, a biological organism, or both) or a color changing chemical sensitive to a specific chemistry, and (2) a carrier substrate (i.e., support system) for supporting the active agent. Effectiveness of an antimicrobial treatment process may be indicated by a change in the color of the active agent. Alternatively, process effectiveness may be evaluated by exposing the active agent or its byproducts to a reagent (e.g., a growth media) that reacts therewith.
During an antimicrobial treatment process, the active agent may separate (e.g., wash off) from the carrier substrate due to exposure to the liquid or gaseous treatment chemicals used during the antimicrobial treatment process. Consequently, the indicator may operate improperly. In this regard, the indicator may have a lowered sensitivity, or have a total operation failure. Moreover, the separated active agent may also re-contaminate the item being treated.
The present invention provides an indicator device including an active agent embedded in an electrospun nanofiber to prevent the separation of the active agent from the carrier substrate.